:: What do you think this means? ::

:: I'm sitting on my couch, surrounded by laundry {clean laundry that is!}, and I'm watching "It's Complicated" --- This is where this whole stinkin' post came from! ::

:: Anyway, near the very beginning of the movie there is a shot of the kitchen. I love it! Here it is for your viewing pleasure :::: I love the open shelves ::
:: The faucet, the farm sink, the herbs, the spoons/spatulas/whisks etc. & the wicker rolling blind ::
:: Ugh, and look at the stove! Not to mention the pot rack! The pendant lamps - ooohh la la! :::: And that marble slab island with the mis-matched butcher block cart ::

:: It all just flows, goes together and looks fabulous! Of course realistically the job of maintaining all the herbs, bowls of fruit etc. would be a full time job in itself! ::

:: Okay, so here's the humdinger of it all...I L O V E this kitchen, however I could never live in it...What do you think this means? ::

:: I love it, really I do but I love my kitchen counters clean, un-cluttered with just a few items on them. The look of having all of my dishes {as beautiful as they are} all exposed would give me constant heartburn! ::

:: Here is a quote from the director "Making movies is an accumulation of details" - So true isn't it!??!!? Now if I had that many details in my life, er kitchen...I'm sure at least one item would break a day! Details are great but in small doses {appropriate for small children too!} ::

:: This is really a post full of empty substance, but hope you enjoyed it :) ::

:: Oh, and I found all these pictures in this fabulous article ::

:: Wishing & Dreaming ::

*SideNote: One of the benefits of Mr. L being away is I get full reign of the laptop...which makes blogging so much easier! Continue on to the real purpose of this post ;)

:: Okay, so as I've stated on here before, we both feel most "at home" when we are close to the ocean. I don't know how to explain it, it just feels like home! Well, moving to the bach {let alone Hawaii - one of our dreams} in our lifetime will probably be out of the question plus I don't think they have Plantation style homes on the water in Hawaii! And y'all know how much of a sucker I am for a Plantation style home! I really love Cape Cod style homes...but bottom line I am a sucker for a traditional Plantation home {another reason I think I may be from the South! HA} ::

:: When I was driving through Washington state the other day I saw one of my favorite old homes {not plantation style} up for sale...being the nosy person I am - I came home and looked it up. I found it along with some very reasonably priced homes, just across the border from our home in Canada ::

:: If I could pick a home, close too our families {not in Hawaii}, right on the sea, this would be it..close enough to home, yet far enough away - the benefits of both worlds! ::

:: I just drool every time I see these photos from this site - Click on photos for larger view :::: Here is the exterior - bah, how I love it! :::: The library or one of the bedrooms - look at those floors! :::: This kitchen, it's a beauty! :::: Upstairs hallway :::: The kids bathroom :::: Front Porch overlooking Birch Bay ::

:: This shot of the front porch really shows you the depth and length of the porch, isn't it amazing!?!? ::

:: So here are the statistics on this house ::
Built in 2006
2858 square feet
on 0.24 acre {10,000 square feet of land}
4 bedrooms
3 bathrooms

:: And all that {including the ocean view and direct access to the beach} for the bargain price of $595,000 - now in all seriousness, that is a serious deal in this area! ::

:: Ahhh, now back to dreamin' :) ::

:: What to do...What to do??? ::

:: Mr. L just left on a trip with some of his buddies for the weekend. I'm here with lot's of plans but no real direction. There are so many things that I could do to fill my time - Plus the weather man says that it's supposed to be super sunny and hot this weekend so maybe doing more of this!?!? :::: Now, I do have a few things planned for the weekend as I have a wedding, baby & birthday to celebrate, but other than that...I don't know what to do! ::

:: Here is the list that's running through my mind ::

*Paint our room - I bought the paint months ago and I could probably get the job done while he's away...however the kids and everything else would probably go to pot!
* Paint the shed trim & patio trim
* Cut the lawn
* Weed the back gardens
* Finish organizing the basement...this project was started earlier in the week and is still partially finished or started {however you want to look at it!}
* Scrapbook our lives over the past 3 years! Ha!
* Update the blog {check - doing that now..sort of!}* Coupon clip...my latest addiction
* Organize father's days gifts - I hate feeling unorganized for events such as this!
* Fold/Iron/Put away laundry {my least desired chore}
* Clean the upstairs bathrooms, I think I can hear them calling my name!
* Sit straight ahead and watch "Say Yes to the Dress" all night long
* Put together my BeautiControl order
* Balance the budget and pay bills
* Re-organize the garage {why does this seem like a bi-weekly chore?!!?}

:: I know, don't all of these things sound so very inviting!?!?!? To say the least, I want to get caught up on some things that have been plaguing me since the beginning of Spring and now it's almost Summer - I better start knocking these things off my list! ::

:: At any rate TGIF - And hopefully I'll be able to update you with finished projects from this weekend!!!! Here's to a great weekend and a ton of accomplishments! ::

:: Our last week...and a bit ::

:: We've been busy little people over the last week and a bit -here are a few pictures of what we've been celebrating in our lives... ::

:: One of Paul's cousins, Stephanie married her fiance of a year in a beautiful ceremony in Abbotsford ::

:: We celebrated our little big boys 4th birthday, with not one, but two Mickey themed birthday parties + a school party! ::

:: Then we went to a big family shindig to celebrate my Dad's Mom's 90th birthday. It was a huge gathering of our family from far and wide. Which meant that we got to have some good visiting time in with T, C & D from the Island...this time is coveted that's for sure! Unfortunately my Nanny {my Marm's Mom} had a tumble just after the party and broke her arm in two different places. She has yet to have surgery so is just sitting in the hospital room awaiting her blood numbers to go up. So if you wouldn't mind saying a quick prayer for her it would be greatly appreciated! ::

:: And last but not least we have been gardening in preparation for Summer to arrive...Seriously, it has yet to arrive here and boy am I ready! And apparently so are my peonies! ::

:: Happy Tuesday Y'all...we're off to school this morning and running some errands, but Mr. Sun is out so it looks like today is rounding out to be a good one already! ::

:: Birthday Boy! ::

:: Today is my biggest little boys 4th birthday! ::

:: It seems like just yesterday we were going in to be checked, far overdue with our first bebe. He came quite (understatement of the year) late! But he was worth the wait! ::

:: Happy birthday to my most favorite Jacob, you are a darling boy and could not imagine our life without you. You are genuine, sweet, passionate and know exactly what you want and we love you more with each passing, day & year! ::

:: All our love, Mama, Daddy & Coley ::

:: We've been ::

:: Trippin' ::
:: Road trippin' that is ::
:: Us and our '88 Citation headed South towards a big rock and a few waves ::
:: Oh, us and our Hula girl - can't forget her! :::: Here is where we landed ::
:: Here we are at Manzanita Beach flying our kite, our adventure was truly amazing, a family trip was just what we needed! ::

:: We've been back for a few days, but drowning in family wedding celebrations, cakes, birthday celebrations for our big 4 year old boy, cakes and more cakes! Ha! ::

:: I'll be back soon to update on the rest of our trip as well as more mother's day celebrations! ::

:: Happy Weekend Y'all - Hope it's filled with plenty of Joy and Love ::

:: Saturday Savings ::

:: So, you may have heard via the Facebook vine, or other blogs about "couponing" - not that it's an actual term but...it explains what it is! ::

:: Want to see what I can get for $7.62 (including 12% tax)? ::

:: Okay, so it doesn't look like very much but here it is broken down for you (with some items on sale!) ::

Snickers Bar $1.19 (I had a buy one get one free coupon) - I paid $1.19

Old Spice Deodorant $3.99 x 2 (I had $8 in coupons) - that makes these two items free

Pantene Hairspray on sale from $6 (who on earth would pay $6 for hairspray) for $3.99 (I had $7 in coupons) - I paid $1

Cascade Action Pack $5.99 x 2 (I had a buy one get one + $4 in coupons) - I paid $2

So all together I paid (without tax) $4.19 + $1.96 in PST + $1.52 in GST = $7.72 out of my pocket

Without my coupons this is what my total would have been: $30.32 + $1.96 + 1.52 = $33.80

{here is the picture of my bill to prove it!}

:: Get this my total savings was $26.18!!! ::

:: Now that is some killer savings! ::

:: Now since I've got you all oogling over my savings and of course you now want free stuff too...message me and I'll get you in contact with the girl that taught me how to do this ::

:: Here's to saving money and Saturdays! ::

:: XO, *S ::

:: My Name is Shawna ::

:: And I buy my sunglasses from the dollar store. Why? Why would I do such things? Well, let me tell ya, they are just sunglasses no.1...no.2 I loose them...and if I don't loose them my children sit/stand/loose them. It's a hideous cycle ::

:: So here is my $2.00 pair of sunglasses I purchased from the dollar store, I could have gone to a more expensive joint and purchased some, but reality bites and my reality is that they may last for 5 months, but no further...cause see in this post, those lovely nautical sunglasses that I paid $15+ for aprox. 5 months ago - vamoose, gone, no where to be found! Ugh. Welcome to my life! Ha Ha Ha! ::

:: Okay, now I know that probably sounds totally cheap, as most people will lay down $45+ for sunglasses and I'm complaining about a $15 pair gone astray, well let me tell you. I can't handle seeing moola go to waste when I could have spent a 1/4 of the cost and lost the $2 pair just as easy! And yes, I'm frugal. That is a fact. So kill me. ::

:: Picnic Time ::

:: Since the boys had fallen asleep on Mother's Day and didn't wake up for what seemed like a year, all of the preparations that Mr. L had made were put back into the fridge. So I decided that I would throw a picnic for two of my most favorite boys, and oy, were they excited! ::

:: Look, even Woody was taken care of! He even had his own "wrap" aka: bread stick! ::

:: So great to see my little ones not fighting, biting, punching, hitting or kicking and just enjoying each other...currently it's a rare occurrence but it's one that's treasured! ::

:: Welcome to Spring! ::

:: Favorite's ::

:: Because I totally love learning about what people love, what they are all about, you know...what makes you, you...I thought I would share a few of my simple favorites {pleasures} with you today ::



:: Here they are all together, My favorite cup, my favorite tea & my favorite flower {in no particular order} ::

:: The tea I first tried when I was at my parents place, first of all it's green tea and I just LOVE green tea, secondly jasmine blossoms smell like Hawaii...and Hawaii is where my heart feels at home, so that's why it's my fave! ::

:: This is my favorite cup {mug}, I love it, if you ever come to my place you'll notice that it's always out, very rarely does it even hit the dishwasher as it's constantly being used. I received it as a gift from my SIL Jenn for Christmas two years ago along with some Starbucks coffee. I had oogled this cup in Starbucks but didn't buy it for myself, and I'm glad I didn't as it wouldn't mean as much if I just bought it for myself! Oh and the chip in it is from one of my kids throwing a sippy cup across the kitchen. Nice. ::

:: Now the lily of the valley, I first smelled lily of the valley when I was in London. And it has forever been etched in my memory that moment in time. I was on my way home to Hawaii from Albania and Kosova. Why I have lily of the valley is because my neighbour across the way gave me some of her shoots that were just going crazy in her garden. We had tried to transplant some last year and they didn't take, so you can imagine my excitement when I noticed the blooms coming up at the end of April...ugh, and the scent of it was outstanding! Geesh, God was so smart when he created the world! ::

:: Here's to a new day, a new simple pleasure and noticing things that make you smile and mean something to you! ::

:: Happy Wednesday Y'all! ::